The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on Tuesday (March 31) that lower courts applied the wrong legal standard in evaluating a Colorado law restricting counseling conversations with minors, siding with a Christian counselor.
The justices ruled courts must more carefully assess whether the statute violates First Amendment protections. They reportedly emphasized that speech cannot be reclassified as conduct simply by government labeling.
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Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote for the majority, noted the law may constitute unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by limiting what counselors can say. Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor joined the majority, warning against suppressing ideas that may be disfavored. Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The ruling, which returns the case to lower courts, reportedly could impact similar laws across the nation.
See related links below:
Supreme Court sides with Colorado counselor over free speech and ‘gay conversion’ law -Baptist Press
Supreme Court Rules Colorado ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban Unconstitutional -Decision Magazine
Supreme Court rules against Colorado -The World and Everything in It
SCOTUS Affirms Freedom of Speech for Christian Counselor: In 8-1 Decision, SCOTUS Rules Colorado’s “Conversion Therapy” Ban is Unconstitutional – Al Mohler’s The Briefing
The links above are a sampling of headlines related to the story and are not an endorsement of all viewpoints or reporting.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was compiled from various news reports by The Baptist Paper, with reporting by Baptist Press.
